The Czech Republic

• is situated in Central Europe
• occupies an area of 78 864 square kilometres and has about 10 million inhabitants
• consists of: Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia
• there are several mountains in Bohemia: the Šumava range, the Czech Forest, the Ore Mountains, the Jizerské Mountains, the Giant Mountains (the highest peak: Sněžka 1602 m.), and the Eagle Mountains
• Moravia: Bohemian-Moravian Highland, Jeseníky and Beskydy
• Lowlands are in the valleys of rivers - the Vltava (the longest river), the Elbe (flowing into the North Sea), the Oder (flowing into the Baltic Sea), and the Morava (flowing into the Danube and then into the Black Sea).
• continental climate
• The most significant raw materials are black and brown coal (Ostrava Coal Basin, Kladno; North Bohemia Coal Basin, Sokolov Basin), iron ore, uranium, kaolin and clay (important for the ceramic industry), stone and limestone (important for the building industry).
• industrial country
• engineering industry (factory Škoda Plzeň, Mladá Boleslav), chemical industry (Spolana Neratovice, Kaučuk Kralupy, Ústí nad Labem), metallurgy, food industry (for example Opava), textile industry (northern Bohemia)
• agriculture: especially in fertile lowlands by the rivers Elbe (corn) and Moravia (wine); hop is produced in western Bohemia (Žatec)
• HISTORY
• Our territory has been inhabitated by Slavonic tribes since the 5th century A.D.
• First Slavonic state was Sámo`s Empire, it was founded in 623.
• In the 9th century the early mighty feudal Great Moravian Empire was formed. After its disintegration (906) power was taken over by the Přemyslid dynasty in the Czech Lands.
• The first historically documented Czech prince was Bořivoj I.
• Czech princes and kings played an important role in Central Europe.
• Přemyslid dynasty died out by the sword in 1306.
• The Luxemburg dynasty started to reign in 1310 (the most important was period of Charles IV).
• Prague grew into one of the largest European metropolises and became centre of education – in 1348 Charles University was founded.
• The part of the 15th century is marked by the Hussite Movement.
• John Huss was reformer of the Catholic Church; he was burnt at the stake as a heretic after Church council in Constance (1415). Later Jan Žižka and Prokop Holý became the leaders of the Hussite Movement.
• On 8th November 1620 there was the Battle of White mountain. The country was Germanized, the age of darkness and the Thirty Years´ War followed.
• 19th century - the Age of Reason, Enlightenment and the National Revival.
• Czechoslovakia came into existence on 28th November 1918. T. G. Masaryk was proclaimed as a first president.
• In 1939 the occupation by the Germans started.
• In 1948 the Communist party seized power and in fact it caused the starting of the socialist era.
• After Prague Spring (1968) the process of normalization began.
• The communists were thrown down by the Velvet Revolution on 17th November 1989.
• 1st January 1993 meant the splitting of the former federative republic into two independent states - the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic.